Nickel Pyrophosphate Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Structural, Thermal, Spectroscopic, and Dielectric Studies

Abstract

Nickel pyrophosphate is very popular material having applications in energy storage devices as well as supercapacitors. In this study, a surfactant-mediated approach was adapted to synthesis nickel pyrophosphate nanoparticles. The prepared material was subjected to structural, optical, electrical and electrochemical property studies. Peak broadening in the powder XRD pattern confirmed the nanostructured nature and monoclinic structure of pure [Formula: see text]-Ni2P2O7 nanoparticle with unit cell parameters of [Formula: see text] Ǻ, [Formula: see text] Ǻ, [Formula: see text] Ǻ, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. Pure [Formula: see text]-Ni2P2O7 samples calcined at 300∘C, 600∘C, 900∘C show monoclinic structure. The average crystallite size and the internal strain were evaluated using Scherrer’s formula and Williamson–Hall (W-H) respectively. The TEM analysis confirmed the particle size in the range of 5–10[Formula: see text]nm for Ni2P2O7. Presence of symmetric and asymmetric stretching vibrations of P–O–P and PO3 was determined by FT-IR spectroscopy. The spectral range of 210–1200[Formula: see text]nm was employed by the UV-NIR absorption spectroscopy, and the energy band gap calculated from Tauc’s plot is found to be 5.38[Formula: see text]eV for pure Ni2P2O7. The EDAX analysis confirmed the elemental composition. The TGA analysis reveals that the sample becomes anhydrous and remain stable beyond 600∘C. The higher dielectric constant observed for the sample is promising for semiconductor, DRAM memory devices and ceramic capacitors. The a.c. conductivity increases with increasing frequency and follows Jonscher’s Power law. On the basis of Jonscher parameters, small polaron QMT conduction model is prevailing. The cyclic voltammetry study was carried out to ascertain the application potential for supercapacitors.

Investigating the electrochemical and antibacterial activities of nickel pyrophosphate [a-Ni2P2O7] nanostructures

“…The calculated crystalline size is found to be 44 nm and 59 nm for the NP-2 and NP-3 nanomaterials respectively. By increasing the annealing temperature, the crystallite size increases, which is confirmed by the XRD pattern [10][11][12][13][14].…”